20 ways to celebrate Yule with friends and family.

Below are twenty ways you can celebrate the festival of Yule. You can either do any of these with friends and family or on your own. Celebrating the Solstice in this way is a wonderful way of recognising the wonder of our mother Earth and to let go of all that you do need and welcome positivity into your life as this turning point in the Wheel of the Year occurs.

As Yule is a fire festival, light a Yule candle, with the stub of the candle from the previous year. Every day in December light the candle for a short while and meditate on all you have reason to be grateful for.

Decorate your Christmas or Yule tree with items found in the natural world. Nuts, pinecones and holly are good examples I’m sure you can think of some more of your own.

Decorate pinecones with glue and glitter as symbols of the fairies and put them on the Yule tree. You can decorate your tree with items from nature as well as Pagan symbols such as the Pentacle.

http://www.astarte-moon.co.uk/shop/

Bring nature indoors with boughs of holly and ivy. Use them to decorate your fire place or altar.

Make your own wreath for your front door with evergreen leaves, berries and pagan symbols. As the wreath represents the wheel of the year you may like to include a representative of each season on it.

Bring some mistletoe into your house to promote love and harmony.

Feed the birds that are in need of food during these frosty months. Thread popcorn and cranberries onto string for festive bird feeders. These would also look great hung on your tree!

Yule log ornament. Find a log that has fallen from a tree in your local park. Then when you bring it home you can have lots of fun decorating it with red a green colours. You can use holly and ivy or red and green tissue paper and pipe cleaners to make a really lovely display. If you can’t find any wood near you then use the inside of paper towel painted brown.

Make some of your own Yule greeting cards. You can use the ideas here or send these as e-cards to your friends and family.

For personalized wrapping papers, cut an apple in half to reveal it’s pentacle on the inside, then use poster paints on plain tissue paper to make colourful pagan wrapping paper.

Play or sing traditional Christmas carols with Pagan themes to them such as ‘The Holly and the Ivy’ and ‘Green grow the Rushes’

Light a dark coloured candle of the eve of Yule to represent all that you wish to let go of. From it light a white candle to represent all the positive events in your future. Once you have lit the second candle, blow out the first, letting go of your past and all that you no longer have need of. Burn the white candle during the eve of the Solstice to remind yourself of all the good things yet to come.

Make a sun ornament from yellow card and paper tissue. Meditate on the importance of the energy of the sun, think about how the days are going to get longer from today and the sun return to warm the earth.

Watch the sunrise on the morning of the Solstice, praying to the strength of the sun to empower you with its strength.

Spend time with family and friends during the day or evening of Yule, giving thanks to our Mother Earth for all that she provides for us.

Make welcoming jingle bells. String small bells from yellow ribbon and hang them in a doorway where they will make a gentle ring as someone walks by. You can buy small bells from most craft shops.  Every time they ring you will be reminded of this wonderful festival and the light and sound bestowed on our Mother Earth.

If you have any sacred sites near you, visit one such as Stonehenge where you can see the sun rising as our ancestors once did so long ago.

Go ‘wassailing’. Visit your friends and neighbours bringing with you a small gift or food and drink such as mulled wine or cider.

Make your own Yule pot pourri to give your house a wonderful seasonal scent.

Mix together:

•               3 Cups dried orange peel

•               1 Cup dried lemon zest

•               4 Cinnamon sticks, snapped into thirds

•               1/4 Cup whole cloves

•               1/4 Cup pine needles

•               A pinch of allspice

•               10 juniper berries

This mix will keep well in a glass jar until needed, it would also make a lovely Yule gift for friends and family.

Make herbal sachets with herbs that you enjoy the smell of or are appropriate for the time of year. Mistletoe, balsam, and fir are good choices. You can hang your sachets on your tree, around your house or give as a lovely Solstice gift.

How will you be celebrating Yule this year?

Sources and further reading:

Sources: I have found my information from various sites all over the internet. Also the following books are excellent sources for wheel of the year information:

Pagan in the City: How to Live and Work by Natural Cycles in the Everyday World Sacred Celebrations : A Sourcebook

Creating Circles & Ceremonies: Rituals for All Seasons And Reasons

Eliade's Encyclopedia of Religion

http://paganwiccan.about.com

 #yulepagan

The Gratitude Pumpkin, a fabulous way to celebrate Samhain

OK here is my next attempt at decorating a pumpkin! Just like my pentacle pumpkin this one is really easy too, you just need a permanent marker, preferably in black so that it stands out nicely. And of course a pumpkin!

So, this is the Gratitude Pumpkin. I got the idea from the website http://www.oneartsymama.com Amy there has loads of wonderful ideas for things you can do with children, well worth a visit.

In making my gratitude pumpkin I first lit a candle, orange to honour Samhain; I then sat for a while meditating on all the I have in my life to be grateful for. I then proceeded to put write some of those things onto my Gratitude Pumpkin. I just wrote the words around the pumpkin, trying to follow the curve but it's not that easy to do, your attempts may come out more artistic than mine! You could write the words randomly all over the pumpkin that would look fabulous too I think.  

This is an exercise that all the family can join in. Children could make their own with supervision or can join in with a Family Gratitude Pumpkin. Most of all, have fun and as you do it, really feel in your heart, the gratitude that you feel knowing you have all these things in your life.

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.” 
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

My Gratitude Pumpkin in front of my Wendy Andrews Samhain Altar

I do try and practice gratitude every day, thinking of three things to be grateful for before I fall asleep each night. Writing the words down like this really cements that gratitude in your mind, reminding you that however difficult life gets there is always so much to be grateful for.

So enjoy getting creative and make your gratitude pumpkin today. I would love to see any examples of your work!

Samhain blessings, Alison 

The Spiritual Meanings Behind Colours

The Spiritual Meanings Behind Colours

Different colours are very evocative to different people and so it has been throughout the ages. Celtic people, Native Americans and other earth based spiritualities assigned different colours for the different elements. Commonly air is seen as yellow, fire is red, earth is green and water is blue. Traditionally green is seen as associated with earth based or Pagan spiritualities. Diana Paxson and her branch of the Asatru associate colours with deities: Odhinn is black and blue; Thor red; Freya and Freyr green and gold, or sometimes brown.

In some wiccan/pagan paths, colour is combined into the crafting of spells these may be for various reasons: 
for health, peace, love, and personal growth. Colour conveys mood very quickly and can help with healing on a very deep level.

The ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Indians believed in chromotherapy, or healing with colors. In chromotherapy, red is believed to stimulate physical and mental energies, yellow to stimulate the nerves, orange to stimulate the solar plexus and revitalize the lungs, blue to soothe and heal organic disorders such as colds, hay fever, and liver problems, and indigo to counteract skin problems and fevers. Premature babies with jaundice are cured by a chemical reaction triggered by exposure to blue light for several days.

Colour is very evocative of mood. Different colours can completely change the mood that we are in. Much research has gone into this and is behind a lot of the colour choices that go into our decorating decisions for our own homes.

Colours are also very important as related to the Hindu philosophy of Chakras. I won’t go into a big explanation of the chakras here as I’m sure a lot of you already have that knowledge and that is a whole other post!

Below is a brief summary of the spiritual qualities associated with each colour.

White.

White is perfect for connecting with elemental spirits and angels, your higher self and spiritual guides. It is good for purification and healing. White also corresponds to the Maiden form of the Triple Goddess.

Yellow.

Yellow represents the element of air. Symbolizes vitality, progress, change and communication, willpower, confidence and warmth. Light a yellow candle if you are having relationship problems or need a boost in confidence, it will bring joy and happiness to your life. Yellow corresponds with the Solar plexus chakra.

Chakras from Pranagyoga.com

Gold.

Gold is the symbol of all sun-deities and masculine energy. Excellent for promoting self-confidence, success in business and financial matters, overcoming bad habits. Carry a gold coin to attract success.

Orange.

Associated with deities of good luck and good fortune. Represents charm, kindness, success abundance, prosperity, sexual desire, procreation, change, joy, tolerance. Sacral Chakra. Orange is wonderful for raising your energies, try wearing an orange top or scarf.

Red

Red represents the element of fire in many pagan religions. It is associated with deities of love, passion, sexuality and war. Red brings courage, will-power, determination, speed, assertiveness, aggression, masculinity, self-preservation, grounding and material stability. Red is the color of the Mother Aspect of the Triple Goddess. The ruby, a precious gemstone with a brilliant red color, was worn in China to promote long life. Represents the Root chakra. Wear red to promote self confidence and assertiveness, even if it is a small item of jewellery.

Pink.

Love goddesses, softness and tenderness, romance, caring, nurturing, emotional healing. While red is associated with fiery love and passion, pink corresponds to the gentler aspects of these emotions. Put pink rose quartz by your bed to re-kindle romance.

Green

Green is the element of earth. All earth based spiritualities. Corresponds with Nature and fertility deities, Mother goddesses. Represents: nature, fertility, growth, rejuvenation, recovery, healing, unconditional love, compassion, forgiveness. Represented by the heart chakra. Dirty or muddy green corresponds to envy, hate, and sickness (a "sickly green", so to speak) Green is especially useful in colour magic spells for healing and for wealth drawing. Green has great healing power. It can soothe pain. People who work in green environments have fewer stomachaches. Suicides dropped 34% when London's Blackfriar Bridge was painted green. Green was a sacred color to the Egyptians representing the hope and joy of Spring.

 Turquoise

Turquoise brings intellectual and intuitive insights, inventions and originality, renewal.

Blue

Blue is the element of water. Deities of the sea. Peace and tranquility, calmness, truth, wisdom, justice, prophetic dreams, protection during sleep, astral projection, communication, speech, creative writing. Representative of the throat chakra.

Violet/Purple

Elemental spirits and angels. Psychic abilities, divination. Crown chakra. Deepens personal spiritual awareness, as well as working with  divine power. Use fluorite to aid in deepening psychic abilities.

 

Amethyst rose quartz sun catcher http://www.astarte-moon.co.uk/shop/

Indigo

Indigo corresponds to the Brow (or Pineal, or Third Eye) Chakra. Justice, wisdom, inspiration, intuition, spirituality, psychic powers. It can also be used in colour magic to help reduce phobias and stress.

Brown

Stability, grounding, conservation, protection of household, family and pets, healing animals, finding lost objects.

Grey

Neutralizing negative influences, putting a halt to negative action.

Silver

Moon-goddesses, female energy, cycles, rebirth, reincarnation, healing of hormonal imbalances, emotional stability. It is very useful in divination and meditation

Black

Deities of the Underworld. Repel and banish evil and negativity, protection, deep meditation. Black is the color of the Crone aspect of the Triple Goddess.

You can use these colours in a variety of ways. You can wear the colour of your choice, if for example you wish to particularly connect with nature and be grounded then brown and green clothing would be a perfect combination. Wear yellow or orange to work if you need a self confidence boost.

For spellwork and blessings, coloured candles, altar cloths, talismans and writing in particular colours are very effective. Birthday candles make a very inexpensive way of building up your coloured candle cache or coloured t-lights which are abundant during the summer bar-b-q season.

Red Spell Candle http://www.astarte-moon.co.uk/shop/

When meditating imagining yourself surrounded by a particular colour is very effective. For example for protection you can imagine yourself within a beautiful bubble and then colour that bubble blue for peace and protection whenever you need it. Meditating in front of a coloured candle is a way of concentrating the colour.

What colour resonates with you? Which colours to you shy away from? Try and examine why that is? Is there some imbalance that you need to look at within your life? For me I never wore red. I always justified it in that it clashed with my red hair but I eventually realized that I was imbalanced and needed to allow my masculine side a little more space. So now I do wear red, only a very little, a pair of red flip flops are a favourite and a few red bangles but it does give me a bit more self confidence, I’m a very moon gazy  girl and I do have to learn that the golden energy is there too!

Blessings of colour and sparkles to you, alison xxx

Lammas Craft Activity- Making your own Lughnasadh Candle

How to Make your own Lammas/Lughnasadh Candle *´¯`•.¸¸.  *

This is a fabulous candle to make and weave your intentions into. Children and adults alike will love this exercise which is a lot of fun although requires a bit of patience!

Take a long taper candle in a colour that you feel represents you, this might be your favourite colour for example. You may wish for the central candle to be a contrasting colour to the surrounding ones and thus choose a pure white candle.  With a bit of melted wax, stick the candle upright in the middle of an aluminum pie dish. Then, surround the candle with a tight circle of 4-6 more upright tapers. These candles should be in colours you think of when you think of the sun and summer – perhaps white, yellow, orange, red or green. You need quite thin taper candles for this to work easily.

Around noon when the sun is at it’s most powerful, take your candles outside. See the strength of the sun’s rays entering and warming the candles. As the wax warms and softens under the sun’s heat, gently and patiently, bend the candles, wrapping and weaving them around each other and the centre candle representing you and your hopes and dreams. If it’s really hot out and some of the wax is melting too fast, use a little water to cool it down a little bit.

Keep wrapping and bending and visualizing until, instead of 5-7 individual taper candles, you have something that looks like one big, twisty candle. Imagine this candle glowing all over with the sun’s energy, maintaining that wonderful strength within your candle. Visualise the power of the Sun God Lugh directing his strength into your candle.  You can be quite creative in how you wish to bend your candles. This is your Lammas candle creation, you can make it as twisted and funky looking as you like!

How to use your Lughnasadh Candle:
We all have days when we don’t feel as strong as other days. Maybe we’re coming down with a cold or maybe we have to stand up to someone who is intimidating. When you are having a day like this, it’s a good time to take out your Lughnasadh Candle and let it burn a bit. Sit with the candle and, as it burns, imagine the solar star power in it pouring into you until you are filled with the energy your candles. You can then gently blow out the candle until the next time you need it. Know that whenever you need a boost of that wonderful Sun God energy it is there when you need it.

Blessings of Lammas and the Sun God Lugh to you, Alison

Waning Moon Epsom Salts bath for stress relief and migraines

Waning Moon Epsom Salts bath for stress relief and migraines

Ingredients needed:

1 cup Sea Salt

2 cups Epsom salts

4-6  drops essential oil of your choice (lavender or geranium are good relaxing and balancing oils)

You can make this up before hand and keep in a nice jar, a jam jar or a zip lock bag. Use

Epsom salts are a compound of magnesium and sulfate. Studies have shown that the magnesium is very readily absorbed through the skin. Magnesium is essential for the body and is important for reducing inflammation, helping muscle and nerve function and helping to prevent artery hardening. Sulfates in their turn help improve the absorption of nutrients, flush toxins and help ease migraine headaches.

The magnesium in Epsom salts helps to produce serotonin, a mood-elevating chemical within the brain that creates a feeling of calm and relaxation. A bath with Epsom salts is therefore a fabulous way to relax and let go of any stress.

A bath in Epsom salts is wonderful at the waning moon as you let go of any stress and toxins in your body and replace them with the goodness that is in the Epsom salts compound. As the moon wanes this is an ideal time to let go of anything that you no longer need in your life. This makes space for anything that you do need. By letting go of stress and toxins you will create space for healing and nutrients to be absorbed. Your body will be in better shape to be ready in absorption mode when the moon starts to get bigger(waxing).

The essential oil lavender is really versatile for therapeutic purposes. Lavender has a calming effect on the body and can be used to reduce anxiety, stress and help with a good night’s sleep. This essential oil is therefore ideal to use in your Epsom salts bath as a relaxing aid, perfect if your bath is just before bed time.

As you run your bath light some candles to get you in the mood for your wonderful stress reducing experience. Four candles, one at each corner of the bath will mean you are totally surrounded in a soft cocoon of light. Choosing candles to represent the four elements present in mother nature: water, air, earth and fire is a perfect way to feel grounded during you bath. Alternatively an aromatherapy candle of your choice will further enhance the healing properties of your bath. You could for example choose a lavender candle along with your lavender oil or if you have geranium in your bath, a lavender candle would be a good complement. Aromatherapy oils and candles may be purchased from the Astarte-moon shop here:Astarte-Moon

Lie in your bath now, relax and feel the warm, salted water  filtering through your pores deep into your body, finding it’s way to where it is needed most. Feel any pain, discomfort or sickness that you have leave your body into the bath water, draining slowly from your body. You might like to visualize that pain as black cords being pulled out of your body. Lie there until all that pain has been pulled out of the water. When you are sure that it is all in the bath water, pull the plug and watch all your unnecessary pain leaving you and being flushed down the drain. Stay in the bath until it has all gone.

Finish with a quick splash of cool/cold water to re-vitalise you and get rid of the last of any sickness. As cold as you can is good as this will really get your circulation going.

Step out of your bath feeling re-vitalised and stress free. Your body will have really benefited from this waning moon Epsom salts experience, try and repeat it again during this time and every time that the moon is waning.

Moon blessings to you, Alison

Lots of fabulous bathing supplies can be found here:

Natural Magick Shop

25 Ways to Celebrate Litha! How will you celebrate the summer solstice?

25 Ways to Celebrate the turning of the wheel to the Summer Solstice.

Watch the sun rise and set on this longest midsummer day.

Keep a candle burning all day as a lovely homage to the power of the sun.

Celebrate solar energy at Litha by decorating your home with yellow, gold, orange, and red.

Cherry Quartz Sun Catcher

Go outside into the countryside or your local park and enjoy being at one with our mother earth.

Make or buy pretty Sun-Catchers to hang in your windows to welcome the sun into your home at Litha.

Leave out milk and honey as an offering to the Fae folk

Make a list of everything you wish to manifest during the next six months

Practice candle or fire divination.

Make a sunny Litha decoration from dried oranges.

Deck your house with Birch, Fennel, St. John’s Wort, Orpin and White Lilies, traditionally popular at Litha.

Tie Vervain, Rosemary, and Hyssop with white thread and dip the tips into a bowl of spring water and sprinkle the water around the house to chase out negativity.

Have an outdoor breakfast picnic to welcome the summer Solstice.

Make a pledge to our Mother Earth, Gaia, for something that you will do to improve the environment and then begin carrying it out

Go bird watching. Take a guidebook, so you will know what you are looking at. The birds may bless you with a feather.

Paint images of the sun or make sun models from discarded packaging and hang them up around your home.

Wear gemstones in green or warm colours such as tigers eye or malachite.

Tigers Eye Pentacle Protection Earrings

Make solar water by leaving a bowl of springwater under the midday sun for a few hours and then use to drink or cleanse your crystals.

Lavender is abundant at this time of year, collect some, hang it upside down and then make into herb pillows for restful sleep.

Leave any crystals or items of jewellery you would like to imbue with the sun’s energy out in the sun for a few hours during the day of Litha.

When you get the opportunity at some point during the day of the summer solstice, stand with your feet firmly grounded and raise your arm and palms upwards towards the sun. Imagine the sun’s vital energy coursing through your body filling you with love and light.

Burn sun oils and incense such as Orange Essential Oil and Frankincense to welcome warmth and light into your home.

Build a fairy house with your children to welcome the fae folk into your garden.

Bring roses into your home, as this is the Goddess flower for this time of the year.

Make a garland out of garden flowers, or a daisy chain.

Tie a bunch of Fennel with red ribbons and hang over the door for long life and protection of the home.

However you spend this long midsummers day of Litha, alone or with friends or family, enjoy it and try and spend some time in Mother Nature. Sing and dance if you feel like it, do whatever comes naturally to you to celebrate summer and enjoy the day.

Litha blessings to you, Alison xx

Sources: 

Cassandra Eason:Pagan in the City: How to Live and Work by Natural Cycles in the Everyday World Glennie Kindred:Sacred Celebrations : A Sourcebook
http://www.astarte-moon.co.uk